>The political picture is such that these first two forces, the >Communists and the Democrats, in their struggle for power have >completely ignored the economy, they are not concerned with it at >all, and this is why the economic crisis deepens. And the economic >crisis unavoidably leads to the political crisis and with it to a >social crisis. So what Putin is saying to today, and Yeltsin also >said, that our economy is coming to life, that there is economic >growth, of course, this is lie, it is not true. The factories remain >as they were, and the stoppages continue, the agricultural situations >only gets worse, the fields are neither sown nor harvested, livestock >is not looked after, prices rise; the crisis continues. > >And what is their answer to this, these two linked forces, the >Communists and the Democrats, or, according to us, the Feudals and >the Bourgeoisie? The crisis will only continue and lead to an >explosion, or, as we say, a revolution. Well, there is your picture >of the political situation in Russia. All the rest is trivia, and not >worth taking account of. > >To translate these general remarks into a more concrete picture it >may be useful to offer some facts. The average Russian worker may be >paid between $45 and $55 per month! Often, (though not so often in >Samara!) wages are not paid for months and even years at a time. The >working class in Russia has been almost decimated. At many Samara >plants, today's workforce is one seventh of what it was under the >USSR. What has become of these workers? Grigorii explained to me "We >have become a nation that hardly produces anything, so we have also >become a nation of traders! You see all the markets full of a little >traders that have popped up everywhere like mushrooms, the bulk of >these people used to be workers? There were probably twice as many of >them before the financial collapse. Those, who were squeezed out >then, are today living at the margin of existence. There are many >millions of people who are barely existing, they are driven to >rummage through the garbage with the dogs." > >Without the relatively cheap bread which is available, there would >certainly be starvation. For example a worker might easily have to >give 4 hours pay for a blister pack with 150 grams of sliced salami - >I do not, of course, mean to suggest that a worker would actually >spend his money in this way! The point however is clear! The standard >of living available to a skilled worker in Russia is extremely poor. >To stretch the example above slightly, this would mean that in New >York City (using just the minimum wage as the equivalent) a similar >blister pack would have to sell for $24, whereas the half-kilo of >bread to put under it would be only $1.50! > >The Workers Movement > >So now let us listen to Grigorii Isaev's view on the contemporary >labour movement in Russia and the situation it faces; > >The working class, the proletariat, is powerful only when it is >organized. The organizers of the working class are those worker's >structures, workers organizations which already exist, and those >which are developing now. ... Here in Russia we have, left over from >the Communists, from socialism, a very powerful and global structure >such as the FNPR (Federatsia Nezavisimie Profsoyuzi Rossii, or, in >English, the 'Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia'.) >This formerly was called the XXXX, the trade unions which were in the >back pocket of the former CPSU. Still today, these trade unions >include 80-90% of all workers. This is not a production branch trade >union. Everyone is in it; there are workers, the administration, the >intelligentsia, everybody! > >[At this point Grigorii begins to draw a diagram to illustrate >...] Concerning the 80-90% in these old trade unions; let's say that >here we have the entire proletariat, as a single entity. Here, lets >say, are the old unions, with Mikhail Shmakov as chairman, well then >lets designate this as No. I, the FNPR, the old communist trade >unions. In them are 80-90% of the working population of Russia. Small >independent trades unions started coming up after Perestroika, they >are still coming up today. The remaining 10-20% are in such trade >unions; they are also called "independent". Like the Union of Foundry >Workers the NPG, I'll write that down, NPG, there are many of them >"Zaschita" (Defense), "Solidarnost" (Solidarity), "Edinstvo" (Unity), >the Union of Foundry Workers. In these there are 10-15% of all >workers. We'll mark them down as No. II. Then there are the Stachkoms >thats No. III. > >In the West, the trades unions organize and call strikes. Here that >doesn't happen. Here strikes arise spontaneously, unexpectedly, of >their own accord. This makes the unions sweat; so they have to unite >with them, they try to climb on their shoulders and direct them into >their own direction. Here's the point, the point is that for the old >unions, for Shmakov's unions such activity is, in general, unwanted; >they are the loyal slaves of the bosses, the authorities and the >enterprises. Now, these little independent trades unions are not >large; they arise in strikes and at the start they are militant and >active. That is how they start out, but they very quickly loose this >revolutionary character, and as I am now, they sit in their office or >in their armchair, and quickly forget who they were yesterday. They >become ... they restrain themselves, and loosing their link with the >collective, they cut themselves off and no longer play any sort of >revolutionary role. But to the extent that strikes happen, people go >out into the street, onto the railways, the strikers themselves >organize and elect their own Strike Committees (Stachkom), workers >committees; these are the most lively, most militant, most >active people. They lead the strike. They formulate the demands, >conduct discussions with the bosses, create the slogans and maintain >relations with the press. They are the commanders, the genuine >militant leadership. > >Well we need to notice that between these [points at I and II the >diagram] trade union structures, there is clearly competition. But at >the same time, and I saw this very clearly in Moscow on the Gorbat >Bridge, all such people just want to talk everything to death. On the >other hand, there are the Stachkoms (Strike Committees). These are >angry, militant, active people. Yes, they can be subordinated, they >can even be roped in by the trades unions. Yet still, there is the >outburst in which the Stachkom arises. Of course then, things move on >and everything collapses again. And so there is a pulsation, like the >temperature of someone sick with malaria. And so naturally, the >question arises at the scale of the class, not in one mine, not in >one factory, not in a single city, but at the scale of the entire >class; how to achieve genuine, united, conscious activity? For this a >party is needed. > >These [pointing at I and II on the diagram] are not capable of >anything! Whereas, the Stachkoms arise and then, immediately after >the strike, collapse again; thus in order that this, the whole >proletariat, can be drawn together with a single goal, standing >behind a single banner, a workers party is necessary. Exactly that, a >party! And it must work, party people must work, both here and here >and here. [draws arrows to each of the three elements in the diagram] > >The party expresses class interests. Not personal interests, not >the interests of a particular mine or particular factory, but class >interests. With the creation by the proletariat of its party, the >class can achieve its own aims. The trades unions, in the end, the >unions are from Marx's period, they represent a lower level of >struggle, they are not revolutionary, they are purely economist. But >our slogan is, "From the economic struggle to victory in the >political struggle" and this can be carried out only by the workers >party, by nothing and no one else; this is shown by history and is >confirmed in the present day. > >Samara > >This puts the Stachkoms in some perspective within the broad sweep of >the labour movement in Russia. But I think does not sufficiently >bring out the power of the Samara example. In Samara, in addition to >the factory Stachkoms, in which only workers participate, there is >the Samara City Stachkom - a more permanent city-wide organization >which has drawn in not only workers from many factories and >enterprises, but also a number of supporters from a wide range of >non-proletarian strata. Thus on my visits to the Bunker I met workers >from the ZIM plant, from the Railways, from a truck fueling station >and from a number of other factories and enterprises. I also >encountered supporters of the Samara Stachkom who were lawyers, >journalists, computer salesmen, page layout workers, a pediatrician >and others. This permanence and broadness of the Stachkom together >with its firm and unashamed working class politics gives the >organization a profile and presence in the region which I have >never seen in another radical left organization. > >As one small example of the profile of the Samara Stachkom, my visit >to the Bunker was covered as a minor item in the nightly news on both >local television stations. > >Of course this is not entirely surprising when we remember that it >was precisely the Samara Stachkom which organized the blockade of two >of the principle city thoroughfares for a period of two and one half >months in 1998, in a successful struggle to get payment of the >workers wages. In the course of this struggle the Governor of the >Samara Oblast, Titov, now a maverick presidential candidate, was >forced to come and talk to Stachkom at the barricades. > >This model of an extra-union organizing and strike force of the >working class, surely bears careful examination by the international >movement. Of course, the situation in Russia is unique in many >aspects. It is not easy to imagine what the effect on the middle >classes in Europe or North America might be if those currently making >$100,000 a year suddenly had to make do with $1,400! Or if average >workers wages hovered around $600 per year! What is certain is that >as capital continues to tighten the screws on the working class >around the planet, as it is at present and as, in the wake of the >demise of the Socialist Camp, it will inevitably continue to do, the >international working class badly needs to learn the lessons >of struggle that Samara has to teach. > > Every Silver Lining has a Cloud > > "What the Samara Stachkom has", Grigorii said to me on many >occasions, "is the Force of Example!" There is no doubt in my mind >that he is right. But it is also painfully obvious that what the >movement lacks is resources. The extreme conditions for workers and >indeed for the vast bulk of Russians mean that apparently minor >problems can become serious obstacles. For example in attempting to >organize the recent All-Russia Congress of Stachkoms the issue of >transporting the delegates to the meeting was a major hurdle to be >overcome. > >Fortunately, you can help with this problem yourself. The vast >differential between living standards in the capitalist West and >those in Russia cuts both ways. If you are working a minimum wage job >in the US, just 2 hours wages would be a weeks pay for average >Russian workers. Stachkom is currently working on ways to make such >donations easy and convenient. Please watch their page for >further details. > >There is another reason to help now, today! The situation is urgent. >Time is running out! As Grigorii said; > > > >We Russians start slowly but move forward quickly, so said Bismarck >the Iron Chancellor. But the situation is such that the crisis can be >resolved in one of only two variants, (for history offers us no >other variants, and we must always keep this in mind); the first of >these is that everything will be crowned with a fascist coup, such >that Hitler, Mussolini and Pinochet will all look like schoolboys. In >Russia things proceed severely, without limits, and the world must >hold its breath if Russia sours with a fascist coup. > >And this, today, is the most practical of the variants because we can >fall into it spontaneously. People are tired! Millions of Russian >people simply can not even live the way things are. And many of them >commonly talk this way, "They are all the same. Who will bring order? >Our authorities are thieves! The crisis continues. Everything is >going to the devil! We need order!!" > >But order can be brought only either by the first variant, a fascist >coup, or the second variant which history also offers, and which is >also a realistic alternative, although, today, much less so than the >first, that is a new proletarian revolution in Russia, a New October. >But this New October is not what, Anpilov, Nina Adreeva or Makeshov >have in mind. No! That is false communism. They are not communists; >they are feudals. We always write NEW OCTOBER in capital letters in >order to indicate that this is not a repetition of the Stalin >experiment, it is not a repetition of the Bolshevik experience. It is >a stock taking of all the lessons learned from and after October >1917, in order not to repeat what happened then. > >I will repeat this once again, the crisis which Russia is living >through today can be resolved only in one of two ways; fascism, the >most genuine fascism of the cruelest sort, or a new proletarian >revolution. But the second variant is, for the moment, much less >practicable - for the moment. The proletarian revolution must be >organized, must be conscious; and for this a big propaganda >organization is required. This is the work that we occupy ourselves >with, both our Stachkom and our party the Party of the Dictatorship >of the Proletariat. > >But the opportunities we have are very, very limited because of our >material circumstances. Thanks to the contemporary means of >communication in society, thanks to the Internet and so on, we have a >method, though not yet as powerful as it could be. We act >practically, we struggle, we strike, we block the roads. And the mass >media cover this, the newspapers, the radio and the television, they >report on the force of our example. We will do it all and we won't >stop, because we understand that if fascism is established in Russia, >it is not only Russia, it will be have echoes around the world. > >So all people on the planet, who look soberly at the world, must >assess for themselves how to be and how to act. Everyone should keep >in mind that at any moment the crisis can reach its final phase. We >must hurry for this will be terrible, it will be evil. History has >given a chance. We must not lose it! And I am expressing not just my >own ideas but the ideas of so many workers, and not just in Samara >but in all of Russia. So I have the right to speak in this way. >That's the way it is! > >Surf's Up! > >To help the Russian and International movement of the working class, >help Samara first! Grigorii compares this to the military doctrine >of concentrating your forces where they have the most chance of >success. Pick your battles where you can make a breakthrough. And for >the working class struggle, "This breakthrough already took place, >long ago, here in Samara, thanks to the late Alexei Razlatzky. This >cannot be shared with other cities, because this is where Alexei >Borisovitch lived and worked. So we are the revolutionary Marxist, or >orthodox Marxists, or however you would like to say it." > >The workers of Samara have created a new proletarian trend. Inspired >by the theoretical contributions of A. B. Razlatzky, they have forged >a new type of organization which has had amazing successes >under extraordinarily difficult conditions. > >I challenge those in the West and indeed around the world who want to >serve the international working class and to build a classless >future, to study, assimilate, develop and criticize the works of >Razlatzky, and the example of the fighting proletariat of Samara. > > Perevodchik/Translator February 29th, 2000 > > FREE Personalized Email at Mail.com Sign up at >http://www.mail.com?sr=mc.mk.mcm.tag001 > >Workers of All Countries, Unite! >---- Cuba SI: http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi/ Imperialism NO! >Venceremos! Information and discussion about Cuba. Discussion of the >path of Ernesto Che Guevara." JC (fin) > > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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